John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Joh 3:4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
Can he enter?
Nicodemus knew that Jesus did not speak of physical rebirth, and his response does not imply that he actually thought so. He simply acknowledges the impossibility.
But the alternative conclusion appears to him to be equally incredible—the idea that he, a devout Jew, stands in need of the experience Jesus mentions. He faces a dilemma, unable to accept the first alternative and unwilling to accept the other.
John 3:5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
Water and the Spirit.
Jesus now explains what it means to be “born from above.”.
Let’s read what Jesus said on a previous occasion on this miraculous birth:
John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
John 1:13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Only God can perform this spiritual birth
The reference to “water” is a clear allusion to water baptism, which was administered to Jewish proselytes and was practiced by the Essenes. Furthermore, for many months John had been baptizing his fellow Jews in the river Jordan.
Yet the Pharisees, who affected a superior degree of righteousness, refused baptism.
Luke 7:30 But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.
Why? Because John made it the symbol of repentance.
Nicodemus had listened to John, and may have heard his statements about baptism with water (John 1:26) and with the Holy Spirit (32, 33).
Let us read these verses:
Joh 1:26 John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.
oh 1:32 And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.
John 1:33 I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
Nicodemus anticipated admission into the kingdom of God as a natural-born, devout Jew, but Jesus declared that anything less than a complete transformation of the life by the power of the Holy Spirit was inadequate.
See on Rom. 6:3–6.
Romans 6:3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
Rom 6:6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
To be “born of water and of the Spirit” is equivalent to being “born again,” that is, “from above” (see on John 3:3). Those who are born from above have God as their Father and resemble Him in character (see 1 John 3:1–3; cf. John 8:39, 44).
Hencefoth, they aspire, by the grace of Christ, to live above sin (Rom. 6:12–16) and do not yield their wills to commit sin (1 John 3:9; 5:18).
1 John 3:9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. (Continue wilfully to sin)
1 John 5:18 We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.
I had heard the preaching of John the Baptist concerning repentance and baptism and pointing the people to One who should baptize with the Holy Spirit. He himself had felt that there was a lack of spirituality among the Jews, that, to a great degree, they were controlled by bigotry and worldly ambition.
The Baptist had hoped for a better state of things at the Messiah’s coming. Yet the heart-searching message of the Baptist had failed to work in me a conviction of sin. I was a strict Pharisee and prided myself on my good works.
I was widely esteemed for my benevolence and my liberality in sustaining the temple service, and I felt secure of the favor of God. I was startled at the thought of a kingdom too pure for me to see in my present spiritual state. {DA 171.2}
John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Born of the flesh.
That is, by natural birth (see ch. 1:13). The principle in the natural world, that all living things reproduce “after their kind” (Gen. 1:21), is equally true in the spiritual world.
In the NT “flesh” and “Spirit” are opposites, and represent two antithetical and exclusive planes of existence. Compare Rom. 6:12–18.
Romans 6:12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.
Rom 6:13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
Rom 6:15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!
Rom 6:16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?
Rom 6:17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.
Rom 6:18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
Let’s go back to the dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus in the Mount of Olives.
Nicodemus the ruler is telling the story from his perspective
“The figure of the new birth, which Jesus had used, was not wholly unfamiliar to me. Converts from heathenism to the faith of Israel were often compared to children just born. Therefore I must have perceived that the words of Christ were not to be taken in a literal sense. But by virtue of my birth as an Israelite I regarded myself as sure of a place in the kingdom of God.
I felt that I needed no change. Hence my surprise at the Saviour’s words. I was irritated by their close application to myself. The pride of the Pharisee inside of me was struggling against the honest desire of the seeker after truth. I wondered that Christ should speak to me as He did, not respecting my position as ruler in Israel. {DA 171.3}
Surprised out of my self-possession, I answered Christ in words full of irony, “How can a man be born when he is old?” Like many others when cutting truth is brought home to the conscience, i revealed the fact that the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God. There is in him nothing that responds to spiritual things; for spiritual things are spiritually discerned.
But the Saviour did not meet argument with argument. Raising His hand with solemn, quiet dignity, He pressed the truth home with greater assurance, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” I, Nicodemus knew that Christ was referring to water baptism and the renewing of the heart by the Spirit of God. I was convinced that I was in the presence of the One whom John the Baptist had foretold.
Jesus continued: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” By nature the heart is evil, and “who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.” Job 14:4.
No human invention can find a remedy for the sinning soul. “The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” Romans 8:7; Matthew 15:19.
The fountain of the heart must be purified before the streams can become pure. He who is trying to reach heaven by his own works in keeping the law is attempting an impossibility. There is no safety for one who has merely a legal religion, a form of godliness.
The Christian’s life is not a modification or improvement of the old, but a transformation of nature. There is a death to self and sin, and a new life altogether. This change can be brought about only by the effectual working of the Holy Spirit.
Next time:
WIND AND NEW BIRTH
From the Mount of Olives echoes the following words of Jesus to Nicodemus.
John 3:7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
John 3:8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Come and listen to the rest of the greatest miracle in life, called the new birth. My prayer for you and me is a new understanding of the work that God wants to accomplish in us though the Holy Spirit.